Masters Of Chaos
by UKsLaster
Summary: Seven Perfect stones with the power to create and destroy. Seven perfect stones meant to bend to the will of their user. Seven perfect stones that will be the destruction or salvation of the universe. It is time for the Masters of Chaos to rise.
1. Prologue

**A:N:**_ First thanks for clicking on the story, much obliged! _

_Second, i've got a music suggestion for you, should you be so inclined. When you begin reading the story open a tab and go to - youtubedotcom/watch?v=Pa33P9A5iHs__ - replacing the dot with a . where needed._

_Third, this is a prologue and it's a very short prologue at about 650 words. The next chapter at the moment stands in at 4000, so before anyone says its too short, it's intended to be that way (i wanted it short and punchy), any chapters beyond will be close to 5000 words in length._

_Well that's everything I hope you enjoy it._

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**Masters Of Chaos**

**Prologue**

**Golden**

A shimmering light against the approaching darkness; a solitary spark that could illuminate the deepest reaches of space: the warden of Mobius. None should dare approach him in this form.

Golden; Golden quills and fur with a heart and soul to match. Red eyes staring menacingly at the approaching foe, but purest thoughts flowed through his mind. The resolve to confront all evils gave him strength. Memories of loved ones fused him with power. To protect them from all troubles was his reason, for too much had already been lost.

A swathe of destruction circled around him, like a planet with a ring formation. Chunks of metal flashing silver in the twilight of space, while a faint red mist caused there to be a visible aura, like that of a god of rage, it's eyes stoked with the fires of the heavens; locked on its enemy. Oh how they reviled him, yet they stood in awe, envious of his supremacy.

This being had been obliterating their forces, grinding them into dust. He was an impenetrable wall, one they threw themselves against without hesitation.

Wave after wave would surge towards his magnificence, hell bent on his destruction. But he would move in a blur faster than a bullet, faster than sound, as fast as light itself. Exo-Suits were smashed, bones shattered, organs crushed, lives ended. It was as abhorrent in its gore as it was mesmerizing in power.

He was beyond their skill, control and resolve.

His power, his energies, the ability to warp the very fabric of space and transcend the limits of his body, all of it made possible through the mysterious power of seven small stones: The Chaos Emeralds.

Were they created by the brilliance of deduction and logic that comes from science? A culmination of the greatest minds the universe had to offer, born from a desire to birth or to kill?

Maybe they were willed into existence by an all powerful entity: A God; whom wished to see how mortals could handle the infinite powers of creation and destruction.

Perhaps they had simply always existed: from the moment space distorted and matter came flooding into this universe; were the Chaos Emeralds formed then? Was the universe trying to create balance in the ensuing Chaos that was the big bang, infusing these stones with a portion of its essence so that something magical might happen. Or was it the universe idea of a joke, to tip the weight of power between good and evil to whosoever held these stones.

Many had theories, but none could know the truth, for there were no facts and no evidence surrounding the Emeralds, there was no history behind these stones of limitless power they just simply existed, and it was just as well they did.

With his insurmountable courage, he was the only being who could now stand between the aggressors and his home. They would show no mercy, and he could not afford to show any in kind, too many lives depended on it.

The emeralds were lending him their power, he had shared his essence with them, opened his heart to the stones so that they might ignite the power that ran through his veins and cause it to surge, to spark, to make him become more than flesh and blood, bound to a mortal body with a finite potential. Here in this moment his being was wondrous, limitless, and close to godly.

The guardian. The light. The angel protecting the innocent.

He was a majesty of wonder. He was a testament of good. He was Sonic the hedgehog, and he was at his pinnacle. Mesmerizing to all whose gaze laid sight upon him friend and foe alike.

And then, he fell.

_Two Years Later._

* * *

**A/N:** Hope you enjoyed the start. Now i got a confession to make. I'm not really intending to release the next chapter for a looooooooong time. See i've currently written four chapters to this story, and i'm slowly building up my entire plot. but i'm already finding the need to go back, and change things in those chapters, a second draft if you will. See the more i progress with the idea, the more i feel the need to add things, or change little plot points that have bigger ramifications in the future.

So my intention is to only let chapters of this story out when i'm 100% certain that a chapter is as perfect as i can get it, and will most definitely work with the arc of the plot. Since chapter 1 gives out so many character details, as to what everybody is doing, it's pretty important that i get it just right. Which is why there will be a long wait for the next chapter.

This prologue on the other hand, i wrote it over a month ago read it something like 50 times (no joke) making adjustments here and there trying to get the flow just right while trying to make it Sonic as epic as possible before he 'fell' and I'm happy that this is the absolute best i could make it, and there is no way i would want to change anything regarding plot points. So i chose to post it, since what happened in this prologue is set in stone.

You may have noticed I leave long author notes. Sorry about that, i often feel a need to explain myself. I personally put it down to having an under-nourished ego. This isn't a zoo, your more than welcome to feed it if you like, just leave a review :P You can flame if you want too. I'll take it all. Just wanna know what people think.


	2. Chapter 1 - SO-SI

**A/N:**No reviews for the prologue :( sad times. Still maybe the first full fledged absolutely 100% completed chapter will change your minds about reviewing.

Once again i have a music suggestion should any care to listen. copy and paste youtubedotcom/watch?v=oD8dVl5ym4s into a separate tab, replacing the dot with a . in the appropraite spot, then pause the video! and only play it when you see this appear in the story **(1)**

I hope you enjoy.

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**Chapter 1 – SO-SI**

**The Lone Fox**.

The static on his fur.

The crackling of photons and neutrons colliding.

The weight on his heart as he heard the click from the trigger.

The image of a small planet and a tree encompassing its northern most pole, its pink leaves blooming.

The golden streak of light bursting forth from the cannon; penetrating the planet, causing it to rupture and warp.

Those pink blooming petals rotted and died, the roots and trunk shriveled and twisted. The light faded for a moment leaving naught but the darkness of space. A second later the planet bloomed white light so radiant it burned the retinas. It exploded outwards consuming everything in its path, tree included.

He felt the tears in his eyes and howled his agony letting the breaking of his heart known to all who dared listen. His devastation erupting from his throat, and the tears ran down his face like rivers, wetting his whiskers. He screamed her name, delirious with heartache. His voice grew hoarse in his anguish. "COSMO!"

He woke.

The two tailed fox known to friends as Tails sat in his workshop: his head resting on the table of his design board.

Sleeping in this room had become the fox's norm, he often found himself staying the night in his workshop rather than making his way to a bed. The dream however; that was a recurring dream, he didn't have it every night, nor did he have it every week, sometimes not even for months. But every now and then it would creep up on him, reminding him of that pain, his one regret.

Sometimes it was triggered by a feeling or a smell, perhaps even a sound. Something that would make his heart race a little faster and his fur stand on end. It wasn't from fear but with the ill placed ideal of hope. Hope that what had happened hadn't, and the one he dreamed of was still alive. It was a child's fantasy, one he thought he had done away with countless times. The dreams told him otherwise.

Rays from the early morning sun beamed in through his window the slight fracturing of light caused a small rainbow effect, it was directly on Tails face, his eyelids were cracked open the smallest amount, enough to let colours blend and distort in his vision, it was a beautiful effect one he appreciated waking up too, and one he often found helped calm him. It was like having a much more gentle and benign kaleidoscope, one that didn't boggle and confuse the eyes with a variety of sharp distorted colours, but rather soothed and caressed dazzling with its sparkle.

He lifted his head up, now fully awake, a piece of paper was stuck to the side of his face, he took a moment to pull it off, to find that it had become attached from drooling in his sleep, he was for once thankful he lived alone, though not too thankful; the piece of paper was a blue print for one of his latest designs, a variation on the weapon systems of his plane the X-Tornado. This design was now smudged and sodden from where the fox had slept with his open mouth.

Tails was seventeen and a genius with whom only one other could be held parallel to, though Tails would always wave off such plaudits, never caring for people's focus to be on him. His shy and more recent reclusive nature meant he actively hid himself from being in any sort of limelight.

Often he found himself in the workshop, going over ideas, designing, redesigning and creating gadgets and tech, anything that peaked his interest, and whenever his interest was peaked, he became obsessed until whatever he wanted to create was done. This often led to sleepless nights. In this case he had caught a couple of hours sleep, having been satisfied with the design and not feeling the immediate compulsion to build it.

His gift was focused on engineering mechanical creations. Sometimes it was built to help society. Sometimes it was to see if he could just build it, and sometimes it was built for self defense, though he always kept those for himself. His trust in the world had taken a dent over the years and with the things he could build he wouldn't dare trust just anyone to use them.

So here the fox was, pondering his latest invention, while a beautiful Mobius morning forced its way through his window. His schedule had him meeting an old friend, Amy Rose later in the day.

**(1)**

It had been a while, Tails had actively kept himself a little more separate from his friends, but he made sure they all stayed in touch, he still cared for them after all. He cared for them as much as he had always done.

He would need to shower, to help keep up appearances of him being fine on his own, but before he washed himself, and combed his fur, he had to take care of her; or at least one of the final fragments of her. It was one of only two reminders that someone so angelic could have existed.

To one corner of the room was a potted plant, this plant was given special treatment.

It had healthy green leaves and a strong thick white stem, with a single shimmering red flower, people said the phrase 'red as a rose' because of flowers as gorgeous as this one. It was full of life, beautiful and well looked after. He tended the little plant; it was barely a foot high.

Everyday he would do the same thing, a sponge with a bit of water would wash the leaves of any accumulating dirt or dust; it helped to cleanse them of parasites.

Everyday he would water it, pouring in enough for the liquid to seep into the soil, but not so much that the soil couldn't absorb all of it.

Everyday he would take one deep inhalation of its fragrance, that sweet smell, would remind him of her, it would remind him of those scarce few times that he held her in his arm and could smell her alluring and natural perfume.

She was perfect.

But she was gone.

Tails turned the plant one hundred and eighty degrees every other day, ensuring all sides caught a balanced and fair amount of the sun.

A seed was all that could be found of her after the final battle with the Metarex. A seed that grew into this. She was a Seedrian, the last of her kind.

A millennia of war with other races, not of plant descent, left the Seedrians divided on how best to end the conflict. The males chose to unlock a power within themselves by using their homeworlds planet-egg.

If a civilization is a planets soul, then the planet egg is its heart. It in conjunction with the natural order of the universe, sunlight, warmth, water, oxygen among other facets all give the means for life to survive and prosper, but its the planet egg which creates and sustains it.

When the male Seedrians tore out their planets heart they changed everything about their homeworld, dooming it to a slow death, and transforming themselves in the process, they became the Metarex, ending the planets ability to harbour life.

The females fled, wanting to end the conflict with a peaceful resolution, but it wasn't to be. The Metarex now blinded with power, and feeling betrayed by the abandonment of ones they loved, turned on their kin, and whittled them down until there was only this one lone girl.

Fate decided she must sacrifice herself to save the galaxy from the males of her species. She did as she must without a second thought. Selflessly fusing herself with the enemy and rendering them defenseless, allowing Tails to take the final shot to destroy the Metarex, and her with them.

It was the single most difficult moment of his life.

More difficult than the constant battles against Eggman.

More difficult that the incessant bullying and beatings that came with having a genetic anomaly.

More difficult than being abandoned for the first three years of his life.

More difficult than any scenario his magnificent mind could conceive. This was her sacrifice, and his. It would forever weigh on his heart.

She was sweet, selfless and caring. She was beautiful, radiant and loving. She was the first and only woman he had ever truly loved. Her name was Cosmo, and he missed her. He missed her more than he could ever hope to express, and so Tails had never tried.

His morning ritual was complete, he checked one program on his computer labeled SO-SI, it was listed at 100% with the command beneath: INITIATE PROGRAM? – YES / NO

Tails clicked yes then made his way to the shower to make himself a little more presentable to Amy before her arrival, he wanted to make sure he got the message across that he was well and happy even if that wasn't how he felt inside.

* * *

**The Knot That Ties**

It had been two years; two whole years since the last time she had seen Sonic. If it had been anyone else she would be worried. But Sonic always did whatever he wanted, often disappearing, to find adventure or enjoy the world. Sometimes he'd be gone for days, occasionally weeks. It was rare for him to be gone for months but the blue hedgehog would always come back with that cocky grin plastered on his face. He had never been gone for years before though.

Amy's heart always wandered to thoughts of her absent hero. Whenever she wasn't in the company of someone else, she found herself bored and lonely.

Eggman had been missing since the year after the Metarex incident. With no foe to fight Sonic had become bored and restless. She could see he wanted adventure and as much as she wanted him to stay and be with her, Amy knew caging the Blue Blur would take away those elements about him that she loved: his freedom and sense of adventure.

Amy always found it fun and amusing to try though, his reactions to her attempts were just too cute for her to resist, yet at the same time she found his resistance frustrating. But what is love if not a conflicting set of desires. In the one hand you desire them to be with you, to mould themselves around you to become an extension of your own life; but in the other you dare not restrict them from being themselves, for that personality is what you originally fell in love with.

Love is irrational, but a woman's heart is allowed to be irrational much like how a man is allowed to be completely immature in their company. It's the little bit of crazy, that spark of personality that makes us unique, but we bury it deep should we get the odd looks from others, those who do not understand us. Only when completely relaxed in another's company do we open up that little bit of crazy in the hopes the other will love it for what it is, and in doing so love us for who we are.

Amy's irrational displays of affection were always on show for Sonic, he might run away from her all the time, but he had never asked her to stop chasing him. She suspected that it was Sonic who wasn't prepared to let his guard down. To show that little bit of crazy that he kept hidden within him. It was possible the Blue blur genuinely feared what she might think of him if he did. And it was with that thought, Amy would always maintain hope that her hero secretly felt the same way for her, that she so clearly felt for him.

Since Sonic's disappearance Amy had made sure to try and keep in contact with everyone who had ever been involved in one of their adventures, checking in on all those who she considered a friend. This included in no particular order, Knuckles, Rouge, Big, Vanilla, Tails, Cream, and the Chaotix consisting of: Charmy, Vector and Espio.

The Chaotix she only checked in on every now and then, she liked to bring cakes and pastries with her whenever she met with them, mainly because it kept the hyperactive bee Charmy occupied long enough for her to have a conversation with Vector and Espio. Charmy had against all odds failed to lose any of his energy in the five years since the Metarex.

When she spoke to Vector and Espio she mostly ended up conversing with Vector, Espio would sit cross legged not saying anything just listening, deep thinker; maybe, not much of a conversationalist was more likely. But they were always kind and welcoming, and their detective business was doing well.

Knuckles was a bit more difficult to stay in touch with. Angel Island still resided in the sea off the coast of the Mystic Ruins; the Master Emerald had yet to reform itself since being used aboard the Blue Typhoon. But Knuckles continued to stay on Angel Island so short of asking Tails to fly her across the sea, she rarely got to meet the Echidna.

But whenever she did get the chance he greeted her with a warm smile. The last time they met though was oddly enough in Station Square. When she asked him what he was doing out there, he just shrugged and said he needed to stretch his legs, and keep his ear close to the ground in case anyone was planning on stealing the fragments of the Master Emerald.

Of course there was only one person who would actively try to steal such a gem, Rouge the Bat.

It was impossible to meet with Rouge, mainly because she had become heavily involved with GUN who kept her away on top secret fact finding missions. She did it knowing more jewels awaited her by teaming up with them.

Amy was confident nothing bad had happened to her during her time with GUN. The bat was too cunning and slippery to be taken down by anyone, and her ability to quickly and effortlessly switch sides to suit her needs would forever keep her out of harms way, her skills were altogether too valuable for anyone to refuse her help, you just had to hope whatever she was after, you would be willing to part with.

Big was well, Big. He smiled when ever Amy went to see him by the lake. He was always fishing and relaxing with his pal Froggy, but he never really seemed to do anything and never really had anything to say. But the cat knew how to relax and enjoy the simple life, something Amy would occasionally indulge herself in whenever in his company.

Vanilla was always a pleasure to meet, she was the one who had taught her how to bake the cakes and pastries she brought to the Chaotix. Amy was secretly a little jealous at the fact every time she met with Vanilla her cakes seemed to taste just a little bit better than hers, perhaps a little sweeter or more moist she wasn't certain, but they were better. Whenever she met with Vanilla she would always be asked how everyone was doing and Amy would inform her, and when Amy would leave, Vanilla would thank her and tell her to drop by any time; and to be sure to check in on her daughter Cream.

Which brought Amy's thoughts to the final two, the two she considered the closest on that list of friends. Tails and Cream. Cream was a sweet heart as pure and innocent as a new born, she always had the Chao Cheese by her side gleefully keeping her company. She was fifteen now but had proven to be a teen prodigy. Perhaps all that time spent around the super intellects of Tails and Eggman had rubbed off on her, or perhaps just the desire to help others gave her focus in her studies. Either way she was pushed on through her grades and quickly moved on to college, where she studied medicine. She was looking to become a doctor and was light years ahead of the rest of the class in her knowledge.

Oddly despite her blooming intelligence it had become apparent that she would remain forever doe-eyed. Somehow none of her naivety towards the why behind other peoples actions had been lost despite accompanying the rest of the Sonic team on so many of their battles.

As for Tails. The cute, sweet, caring, super genius. Tails had become distant and more difficult to talk to than the others. He never got angry or shouted. But if she was to be perfectly honest with herself, she wished he would, he was bottling his frustrations within him. The fox was closed off from others, and while he always tried to put on a friendly face, she could tell it was just a façade, one he used to cover up the fact that a part of him still felt guilty and depressed for what he had to do to Cosmo.

But what could she do to help him? Amy did what she thought was the wisest option, always be there should she be needed, and otherwise keep checking up on him and bringing him cakes. She had once jokingly wondered that if she could stuff him full of cakes and pastries, then maybe he would fatten up enough for him to be forced to go for jogs, and in doing so meet with the outside world on regular occasions.

But the real reason for the cakes and pastries was to return a favour that the fox had been dispensing unto everyone without them having ever asked. The fox had been selling new inventions and cutting edge technology left and right and made sure to keep a trust fund ready should any of the group need it. As much as she tried to look after him, she knew he was trying to do the same for everyone else.

Today she was meeting both Tails and Cream. On her last visit to Vanilla she was politely asked to go meet and pick up Cream who was coming home from university for a couple of weeks. But first she was to meet Tails. Last they talked he had expressed he had an idea on how to find Sonic and with much enthusiasm she encouraged him to work on it.

He of course complied making it his top priority.

Today was to be the day when he used it to begin the search for the blue hedgehog and there was no way she was going to miss that. After hearing how it would progress she would go meet Cream at Spagonia University, taking the bullet train there.

The pink hedgehog donned her usual attire and headed out the door of her Station Square apartment.

* * *

**Birds Eye View**

"So what is this? And how long until we see results?"

Amy was excited practically hopping with anticipation. Tails was sitting in a chair busy clicking away on his machine, processing data while Amy leaned on its back rest, occasionally her tremors of excitement would shake the chair and Tails.

The fox though was good natured and didn't mind, taking pleasure in the help he was giving Amy.

"It's called SO-SI, short for Sonic Sight, and it shouldn't be too long before we start seeing some results." Tails replied. "I can't give you an exact time but once I get it up and running, I can provide you with a live stream, should any discoveries be made."

Amy grinned. "So… what does this do exactly?"

Tails opened his mouth to explain but Amy quickly added- "In Laymans terms please."

Tails snickered. "It wouldn't be exact then would it." He joked. "It uses satellites in orbit with equipment that detects speed in movement, much like the kind of equipment used by roadside police to detect the speed of traffic. I've calibrated it to detect movement above Sonic speed, then coupled that with telescope, cameras, photo-imaging enhancers, thermographics and topography displays and directed it at Mobius."

"So if Sonic is running around Mobius, these will find him."

"That's the basic idea. Only these machines do have a limited effective area. So I can't cover all of Mobius, and I've tried to compensate for any storms with the thermographics, but with all this in mind it would take me months to scan it all, but with Sonic probably running from one corner to another it shouldn't take too long to pick him up... By too long I mean a month tops." Tails explained.

"So it picks up anything that moves faster than the speed of sound?"

"Yep."

"Won't it pick up planes then?"

"No. Well... probably not. I've added an image processing programme, it'll report any sightings that move faster than the speed of sound, and are coloured blue. So unless there are any blue planes flying around out there we should be fine."

"Blue planes?" Amy smirked. "I'm thinking the Tornado."

Tails scratched the back of his head and gave a nervous laugh in response. "The Tornado can only just about reach Mach 1, and that's when in the X mode, with all jets firing on full afterburners, and with the majority of the weapons arsenal dumped. So we should be fine."

"Mmhmm." Amy gave a grunt of acknowledgement satisfied with Tails explanation.

"Can you give me your phone for a sec?"

Amy complied without question handing over her pink phone to Tails. It would be garish to anyone else, but what with Amy being a pink hedgehog it did suit her.

A quick slip of a cable into one of the phones ports, and a little tinkering, followed by an upload of software and Tails had given Amy complete access to any results SO-SI satellites might find. He unplugged it and handed it back to Amy, spinning around on his chair to face her.

"All done, just press that app and you're all good to go!"

Amy gave it a trial run by pressing the blue spherical spiky icon with two white eyes with black pupils in the centre, resembling Sonic. It immediately displayed the current scans coming from the satellites hovering around Mobius, and a list of potential sightings of Sonic. It for the moment registered that list with a 0.

Amy put the phone back in her bag and looked back up at Tails, where they both met each other with a long awkward pause. She knew it was because with Tails had done everything he had intended to do on this visit, and he now wanted to go back to being left alone. But Tails being polite in nature, completely lacking in any sort of authority, he would never just send Amy on her way. A foible Amy could take advantage of, if she so wished.

"Do you think we'll ever find him? Amy asked.

Tails gave a rather blank and some what evasive response, but it would not go unnoticed. "If he's out there, this will find him."

"That's not what I asked Tails." Amy said immediately, and creases of worry furrowed across her brow. "I asked do *you* think we'll ever find him?"

Tails let out a heavy sigh, and it made Amy even more disheartened, thinking the SO-SI project was a lost cause, just a way to keep her happy, and off his back. Her head slumped. "You'd have already found him if he was out there." Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "What if something's happened to him, what if Eggman finally caught him or something else did, what if-"

Tails interrupted. "That hasn't happened."

"You can't be sure!"

"Yes I can!" Tails said, his voice stern, and for a second Amy caught the barest glimpse of anger, but it morphed just as quickly into a smile. "Sonic is the stand out hero of this world. Any villain, anyone trying to make a name for themselves, anyone who was able to defeat Sonic would make it known to Mobius, Eggface included." Tails spoke as reassuringly as he could, knowing he was right. "If anyone had defeated Sonic they would make it known, and then they would attack Mobius, having defeated the peoples hero, and knowing with the peoples spirit broken that would be the time to attack."

Tails took a moment to look Amy straight in the eyes being sure not to break eye contact. "Sonic's not dead. A hero of his renown does not just vanish. He's somewhere, I don't know where, and I don't know why he's been gone for so long, but he is out there."

Amy watched Tails intently, her anxiety and fears finally ebbed away, Tails made sense. But she couldn't stop a few tears from falling. She closed her eyes to fight the tears back and succeeded, wiping away the ones that escaped. She felt a hand squeeze her shoulder, and when she re-opened her eyes she saw Tails reaching over trying to offer a bit of comfort.

"I miss him." she whispered mournfully.

"I know…" Tails replied "I miss him too." The fox leaned back in his chair a memory played through his mind and it made him smile.

"Y'know when I moved into my workshop. It was the first time I had been alone since Sonic found me in that forest way back when." Amy looked back up at Tails as he begun to relate his memory, it was rare for either Sonic or Tails to relate parts of their past.

"I used to hang around with him all the time, shadowing his every footstep, as I'm sure you know."

Amy nodded, remembering the first time she had heard of Sonic's success from the T.V when she was eight years old. She had seen a young cobalt blue hedgehog with that huge cocky grin she would come to love; spread across his face. He was giving a thumbs up for the cameras and making jokes about Eggmans waistline. He had a brown rucksack on his back with a four year old fox's head poking out the top of it, sitting inside the rucksack, only his eyes and everything above was visible. Tails was shy and didn't take well to the media attention Sonic would garner with his heroics.

"So when I moved in to the workshop and gave up travelling, I also had to accept the fact that I wasn't going to be able to rely on Sonic to be there for me, that I would have to survive on my own." Tails had begun to look out the window remembering those feelings. "It felt like being back in that forest, like we had never met."

"But you learned to live without him and grew stronger without him." Amy said guessing the end to the story.

"Yes..." Tails chuckled "But that's not the point. Nor is it relevant to you." He smiled, and Amy gave a brief smile back.

"He offered to stay with me that first night, to help me adjust. But I insisted that he go. I wanted to prove not only to him but to myself that I could survive on my own, that he didn't need to worry about me anymore." Tails continued to smile at the memory.

"And then what happened?" Amy asked genuinely intrigued.

"I didn't get a wink of sleep." Tails laughed. "Every time I saw a shadow move I thought it was one of Eggmans machines come to take me away now that I was vulnerable. Every time I felt the slightest tickle amongst my fur I had to rub it to make sure I wasn't being roboticised. I did not sleep, and when the sun rose the next morning I breathed the biggest sigh of relief you could imagine."

Amy grinned at the thought of Tails being so paranoid, enthralled by his story.

"I did feel like I had managed to pass my own test and proved a point to myself and Sonic, It didn't suddenly boost me full of confidence mind, I mean I hadn't slept all night after all. But as that sun rose I went outside to enjoy the morning rays, and once it had risen from behind the hill, I turned to go back inside and work on some kind of mechanical creation of mine. Only-" The grin spread wider on Tails face.

"Only when I turned around to go back inside, I saw laying on my roof, this bundle of blue quills." He laughed. "Sonic had slept on my roof to make sure I was alright." Tails smiled at Amy. "Course he was still sleeping, clearly not as worried that something might happen as I was. But this is my point about Sonic, he stayed on my roof just on the off chance I might call out his name and need his protection. When you need him, and I mean really need him, he will be there to save you."

Amy nodded, understanding why Tails had decided to relate his story. "Thanks Tails…" She smiled. "That is a comforting thought." The fox smiled back.

"Course, I don't recommend throwing yourself in front of any cars just so you can get back to doing one of your patented rib crushing hugs on my brother." Tails said with a mischievous grin.

"I'm gonna do more than just crush his ribs!" Amy said with a wicked grin. "After I'm done with him, I'll have to give him CPR."

Tails chuckled. "Just remember mouth to mouth does not count as a first kiss."

"What? Of course it counts. It's even called the kiss of life!"

Tails shook his head in disbelief, but the smile would not fade.

The pink hedgehog checked her watch and sighed. "I need to be heading off, I promised Vanilla that I would go meet Cream and bring her back from Spagonia."

"How's she doing anyway?" Tails asked genuinely intrigued, it had been a few months since he had last seen the rabbit.

"Well, she's topping her classes.'Teenage prodigy' is what they're calling her, emulating you in that respect."

"Makes sense they kept pushing her up through the years, she's more interested in healing people rather than tinkering with machines though."

Amy smiled and nodded. "You need to come visit some time." Trying to get across how little time he had spent with people as of late. "She misses you."

Tails gave a faint smile. "Thanks for meeting with me Amy." He said dodging around her last remark. "It was good to see you again. I'll try to get out more often."

"Be sure that you do." She said with a smile getting up from her chair and showing herself out.

Tails smile dropped after she left, his thoughts returning to the point of the story he had related. He had held one thing back from Amy, knowing it wouldn't do her any good to hear it. The truth about Sonic the hedgehog was he would always be there for them. But he could not always save them, despite popular belief; he was every bit as fallible as every other Mobian.

Even the blue blur has his limits.

* * *

**A/N:** _A complete chapter, updates will continue to be extremely slow, *cough*slower without any reviews*cough* I felt this chapter was as close to perfect as i am able to deliver. I had to rewrite the next couple of chapters after this just because i didn't like pacing, and i don't think they necessarily said what i wanted to say, so once again, it'll be a while before you see an update. It was a little over two months between this and the last so yeah don't expect consistent updates for a long while. There's a lot of this story, and i want to make sure i get it all right before upload._

_Thanks for reading._


	3. Chapter 2 - Status Quo

**A/N****:** _So just quickly I thought I should state that while i'm having this follow on a lot from the Sonic X storyline, that it isn't exactly my vision of a sequel to it. See there's going to be a lot of things that happened in the characters past that are different to what the Sonic X show... showed :S for example Sonic and Tails first meeting would be different. There would be no parallel earth but rather humans and mobians alike would have grown up on Mobius so all those events would have happened there._

_There will (mostly likely) be no Chris Thorndyke cos well his purpose in the show was to give people who had never seen Sonic before someone to relate too, unfortunately from my perspective all he did was take away from Sonic and Tails friendship, by season 3 they were trying to put him into Tails role, they said he was Sonic's best friend and that he was a mechanical genius, seriously what was up with that?_

_Anyway personal misgivings aside. This while using the vast majority of Sonic X plotlines, I can not say it is a direct sequel to it. But any and all history that you need to know will be given in the story as it progresses._

_I hope you enjoy._

* * *

**Chapter 2 – Status Quo**

**Missing Clues**

"Two targets." The ear piece crackled, a slight interference was coming over the network. Interference caused by the day to day hum of this grand city.

"Large brown overcoats. One short, one tall." A gloved hand held the communicator close to the ears that poked atop her head. Her gaze pierced through the fog below her, and spotted the targets the voice had identified.

"This is White Wing. Targets sighted." Her voice was smooth like silk; its tone serious yet sensuous.

As she stood from her crouched position she unfolded her wings, they weren't white like her callsign suggested but black. Her fur on the other hand was an albino white, her eyelids given a cerulean shade. Her clothes were tight fitting and suggestive. They accentuated her bodacious figure.

She had all the curves in all the right places, and she knew it. This knowledge can be one of the most powerful tools to wield in the female arsenal, for the male mind more often than not, is of two minds, one of reason, and one of lust. A woman with a body of a goddess who knows how to play with mens lust, can be more powerful than any of them. She need merely give a look and a wink. Such is the frailty of a man's libido.

This woman however, had respect, not just for herself but for both genders, she only flaunted for the fun of it, and maybe to get a particularly shiny stone. She liked to tease to see the flustered look on a man's face as they tried to work out if a woman as beautiful as her might actually be interesting in them.

The answer was no of course.

This woman was Rouge the bat, and while she knew exactly what her body would suggest with every step, she also knew how to handle herself whenever there was trouble round the corner. She was working for G.U.N and her job was to dig up the worlds secrets; of which there was a worrying amount.

The location she found herself in was Future city. It had earned its name with technological marvels far ahead of any other city or even country on the planet. This city was considered a veritable oasis when it came to being on the cutting edge of all things that furthered the progress of technology. As if someone had plucked the apple from the tree of knowledge and decided to plant its seeds in the foundations of this metropolis.

Rouge was standing on top of one of the tallest buildings, green neon lights lined the three corners that made it's triangular shape, it's peak came together to a point, there was a half meter of room up at the top, that allowed for the positioning of a radio tower. The bat stood beside this.

This building overlooked one of the many skyways of Future city. All vehicles here could fly, and so room was made above the ground to allow for the highways of the future. These skyways allowed traffic to move leisurely. With traffic being offered a 3D route, traffic jams became a thing of the past, and it was upon this skyway Rouge could spot a red open top vehicle flying through the crowd, the two identified targets in the drivers and passengers seat.

"Moving now." Rouge spoke, her voice cool and in no way giving any hint of feeling flustered at the acrobatics she was about to pull off.

She was ready both physically and mentally and so the bat leapt from the side of the building. She wouldn't be able to flap her wings fast enough to keep pace with these flying cars, but by leaping off the side of the building she could reach terminal velocity, nearing two hundred miles per hour and keep pace. She wouldn't have long to do what was needed, so timing was pivotal.

A heads up display had given her readings. These were contact lenses, with recording devices, and computer chips. Nanotechnology allowed the creation of such intricate devices; it had allowed her to assess the vehicles speed, and its height relative to her. It calculated how much speed she would pick up while in free fall, plotting a route between traffic for her to intercept the vehicle.

It constantly updated and made small adjustments for every factor within Rouge's field of vision. The changing of lanes from a passing car, the acceleration of her target, all this information and more fed back to her on the contact lens for Rouge to see. There was one small detail in the bottom right corner that marked out its developer, a familiar two tailed icon; something Rouge had noticed, but did not allow her thoughts to linger on.

The wind whipped around Rouge, threatening to throw her off course, as she closed on her peak velocity this turbulence would only got worse once she passed through the flow of the traffic. But something as trivial as the wind wouldn't be a danger for one such as her.

She reached terminal velocity, spread her wings and leaned back, pulling her out of the nosedive and into a glide, altering her momentum into the horizontal axis, and sending her straight into the hive of traffic.

She wove her way between vehicles with finesse, some missing her by mere inches, but not one would have been able to touch her. She was lithe and nimble, graceful and precise, she was in her prime and flying was one of her many arts. The occupants of these vehicles would only see a shadow, a fleeting ghost of an image that they thought they saw, but quickly put to one side believing it to be their mind playing tricks on them. Not a single one of them would notice her let alone react, she slipped on by without worry for her safety, so confident was she.

The target was now fifty meters away and closing fast. She was targeting the underside. She needed to keep out from their line of sight, keep out the way of traffic, if these civilians were to start weaving their vehicles to avoid her the target would get suspicious.

She dodged one last vehicle and now there was nothing between her and them. It would be upon her in a second. Rouge reached into a pocket, grabbed a small device, barely the size of a thumbnail. She tucked in her wings and rolled herself over just as the vehicle flew over her. She flicked the device on to the metallic under body and it stuck, a moment later and the vehicle was another fifty meters down the skyway, and Rouge was making her elegant landing on a building opposite where she had started.

Rouge smirked as she checked the readings coming from the tracking device; missions like this were child's play to her. She put a hand to the communicator in her ear. "Mission Success. Signal's strong. Now we just wait."

Rouge took a moment to survey the surrounding area, and saw a neon lit nightclub. She proceeded to add through the communicator, in a playful tone with that husky voice.

"So which one of you boys, wants to buy me a drink?"

* * *

**Youthfulness**

"She's gonna be here any second Cheese!"

"CHAO!"

The little blue Chao was flying round the room in circles. Holding clothes and trying to help its lifelong friend to pack.

Its friend was a rabbit, a particularly cute and innocent looking rabbit, one with extremely wide eyes. It much suited her outlook on life; filled with naivety and wonder. She was ignorant of the darkness that could be hidden within peoples hearts. But that ignorance brought a warmth and sincerity that could melt those very same hearts. She was Cream the rabbit, she was fifteen years old, and she had woken up late, forgetting to pack for her trip back home.

"OOOOOh!" Cream let out a frustrated groan. "Where's the dress Cheese? The yellow one, with the frills."

"CHAO CHAO!" Was the reply, which to anyone else would sound like drivel. But the Chao and rabbit had always been together, to the extent that despite not being able to speak the others language, they could intuitively know exactly what the other meant.

"I'm a uni student Cheese! It's called an organized mess!"

"Chao!" Cheese pointed over to three columns of books, and a second later Cream was pushing them out the way causing an avalanche of knowledge to spread across the room. A second after that she was pulling out a creased yellow dress.

"Thanks Cheese! Now if only I had time to iron it." Cream pouted for a second at the misfortune. But settled with waiting till she got back home to work out the creases, it wasn't a dress meant for travelling, but meant to catch people's eyes, to stand out. For now she would stick with the old reliable red dress she had.

"Alright Cheese, you get the toothbrush, washcloth and all other toiletries, and I'll cram everything else into the suitcase. 'K?"

"CHAO!" The chao nodded and flew over to the bathroom. Cream in the meantime emptied her wardrobe, and stuffed her suitcase.

She took out the individual draws and proceeded to empty them upside down into the suitcase before jumping up and down on the clothes to flatten them as much as possible. A moment later she was plucking the thickest books that were in the avalanche and dropping them into the suitcase with a hefty thud: Circulatory systems of the Mobians, Medical Journals dated through the previous decade on the latest medical procedures. And finally; How to get that one guy: The innumerable methods of getting that clueless fool to notice you. The last book was actually thicker than the previous two, and with even more bent corners.

These three books combined had a better effect in squashing the clothes than Cream had when jumping up and down.

Cheese threw the toiletries into the corner of the suitcase, Cream flipped the lid over and both proceeded to leap on top of it, their combined weight just giving them enough leeway to buckle the straps and seal the contents inside.

It bulged, and the seams were strained to breaking point, but miraculously the suitcase held. The pair leaped into the air, high-fiving too their success.

Cream took the handle and pulled it but the suitcase weighed so much, Cream couldn't get it to budge so much as a millimetre. She gave Cheese an awkward look.

"Er, Cheese… how do we carry it?"

* * *

**The way home**

"Ugh! Where is that Rabbit? She was supposed to be here a half hour ago!" Amy was thinking out loud, and a few passing citizens gave her strange looks. As if they had never talked to themselves in times of stress, anger, anxiety or loneliness. Everyone does it! Talking to yourself despite popular misconception does not in fact certify you as crazy.

Yet still they looked.

Amy gave an undignified "Hmpfh!" As she crossed her arms and ignored the stares being cast her way.

Cream was late. Very late, and Amy would have loved to chase her down, but she didn't know the area well. Besides she and Cream had arranged to meet at the train station, and she didn't want to risk walking away in search of her only for sods law to take effect and that was the moment Cream chose to turn up.

She had tried calling her, but the rabbit was useless at checking her phone. It had gone straight to voicemail, presumably because it was out of battery.

So Amy waited, she would claim it was patiently, but any passerby could attest to that not being the truth. Though with the current scowl that was embroiled on her face, none of those people would dare go against what she said, lest they feel her wrath.

It was a further ten minutes before a taxi cab turned up and a blue Chao flew out the open window and rocketed itself straight into Amy's chest.

Any thought of anger or frustration immediately evaporated, Amy couldn't help but hug Cheese as it tried its best to wrap its arms around her. It was very small after all, about eight inches tall and six wide. Its arm span couldn't even reach to her sides.

As Cheese hugged Amy the doors to the cab opened, and a disgruntled looking man got up and went around to the rear of the car to open the boot. While Cream hopped out the side and gave a brief happy and exaggerated wave to Amy before turning back to the cab driver.

"Thank you so much Mr Cab driver, sir. I didn't think it would be so heavy."

The cabbie gave no reply. Only a "hmpfh!" As his burly figure struggled to lift the suitcase out of the trunk of the car and dragged it to the sidewalk. His face turning red in the process.

"AMY!" Cream ran over to the pink hedgehog and gave her a big hug sandwiching Cheese between them in the process.

Amy smiled and hugged her back "I'm happy to see you too Cream! But we need to hurry up and get on the train, we missed the first one and I don't want to risk missing another."

Cream smiled back and simply nodded, before turning back to the panting and strained cabbie. "Er, Mr Cab driver…" The rabbit had engaged her sweetest voice, batted her big eyes, and twisted her foot in the pavement to make her as endearing and cute as possible. Was it out of knowledge that it would get anyone to do what she wanted or just because she was naturally so sweet, no one would ever be able to tell. Either way the cabbie never stood a chance, and soon found himself wheezing and gasping his way towards the train and placing it in a compartment before being paid for his efforts.

The train was a magnet train, as such it never actually touched the ground. Less friction meant faster speeds, and soon it was travelling at a good three hundred miles per hour. Yet despite the speed, it barely made a sound. For it ran on electricity, and the only sound it made was a gentle 'thrum' very easy to put out of your thoughts with some light conversation.

"So come on! Spill everything, how's university treating you!" Amy was fully engaged sitting opposite Cream, leaning forward arms on table, her eyes never breaking contact with the rabbits.

"It's great out there, Spagonia is so different to the Mystic Ruins. Everyones so busy, and there's so much going on all the time."

"Bet it's a rush, huh?"

Cream nodded enthusiastically. "There's always something going on even at night, I'll hear a celebration going on somewhere, or a band playing, people dancing in the streets, or sirens wailing, but sometimes it's gets a bit too much to be honest."

"Oh come on that's half of what university is about. You go to learn and socialise. You meet lots of new people and do a bunch of new things that the old you would never have done before."

Cream gave her a confused look. "You've never been..."

"No, but it's what everyone says while they're there. So what kind of events have you been too?"

"Erm..." The rabbit flushed in embarrassment. "Not that many actually. I'm still a bit too young to go to most of them. I did go to a festival they held on the streets though. A festival of the night."

In Amy's mind such a thing sounded really romantic and so through that alone she instantly became intrigued. "What was that like?"

"Well lots of sparkly things flying around, y'know fireworks, lanterns being let off into the night sky, and a parade of all the things that go bump in the night, and i'm pretty sure every merchant on the street was trying to sell star signs bracelets, or necklaces or whatever."

"Sounds great."

"It was." Cream nodded happily at the memory of that night.

"So what about friends, a cheerful and sweet thing like you must have made a million."

"Y-Yeah…" Cream voice wavered, she was trying to think up a new line of conversation, she was a terrible liar, mostly because she hated doing it. Unfortunately that same reluctance to follow through with the conversation, was a clear indicator that not all was well in that regard. And Amy being the sociavore that she is immediately homed in on it and saw that reluctance for what it was.

"Cream? What is it?"

"Nothing." Cream tried for a lie of omission, a simple evasion of the topic so that she wouldn't have to lie to her friends face.

Amy was having none of it however. "Cream…"

Cream thinking fast wanted to make it seem like it was a case of her choosing it to be the way it is. "What? I prefer the company of my old friends, everyone else are so… so… I …I dunno…" Unfortunately halfway through she realized it would still count as a lie.

"You saying other people avoid you?"

"No!" Cream said defensively, while also trying not to sound hurt from the truth of it.

Amy gave her a look to say, 'I ain't buying what you're selling.'

"Well…Yeah…maybe, I think." Cream let out a sigh and caved in to Amy's questions "I think it might be because I'm quite a bit younger than them you know, they don't want to be seen hanging around with me."

"University isn't a popularity contest like high school Cream! Nobody cares about being the cool kid."

"No, but it is a place where people think they're stepping into their own shoes and consider themselves a mature adult, fully capable of being independent and leading their own lives, I guess some snot nosed teenager stepping into their shoes, makes it feel like I'm stepping on that belief or something, so they steer clear of me."

"You're not snot nosed, besides you're doing better than all of them! You deserve to be there more than any of them."

Cream gave her a grin. "I got Cheese with me anyway." Cream picked Cheese off her head as she spoke giving the little chao a big hug. "What more do I need?"

Amy grinned, not so much at Cream and Cheese, more of a malevolent grin, one which knew a perfect question to answer Creams rhetorical one. "Soooooooooooooo," Nonchalance was not Amy's strong suit. "Seen any boys?"

Cream blushed.

"THAT'S A YES!" Amy practically squealed with delight.

Cream held her hands up defensively. "No, no! I didn't say that!"

Amy leaned forward, scanning every muscle movement that came from Creams face, the blush, the aversion of the eyes, she might not want to admit to anything but her body movements gave it all away. "No, but it's written all over your face!" She was practically bouncing in her seat with excitement. "So who is it?"

"It's nobody really!" Cream replied putting her hands up to try and symbolize for Amy to back off, and perhaps to erect an invisible mental barrier, one she wished Amy wouldn't be able to see through.

"It's just us girls here Cream, come on spill who is he?"

"Amy…"

" Are you dating?"

"Amy!"

"Does he even know?"

"AMY!"

"Is it a secret crush? It's a secret crush isn't it! AAAAAW! That's so cute."

"AMY ROSE!" Cream could really do without Amy's tireless fawning on the topic of love. Give that girl one sniff of anything to do with a relationship and she would be all over it faster than ants to honey and she'd eat up that honey with a hunger that could put Winnie the Pooh to shame.

Cream had managed to jerk Amy out of her ponderings as she continued to identify and dissect her way through and towards the object of Creams secret affections. "Hm?"

Cream settled back into her seat exhausted by her friends all seeing eye. It actually annoyed her that she had managed to narrow down just what manner of crush she was currently having so quickly. Making her think twice about just how much she must be wearing her heart on her sleeve.

"Heh, sorry Cream. I just wanna know, you've never really talked about boys before."

The rabbit wanted to point out that she still hadn't, but never one for a confrontation, immediately put it out of her thoughts. "Please, just some other time, please Amy." Cream begged, hoping she would do as she asked.

Amy wanted confirmation, her curious mind wanted to know who was the object of Creams affections. For there was nothing she took greater pleasure in seeing than that of love blooming between two people. For now though, she would relent, but some time, some time soon, she would wring that last little bit of truth from Cream and hear for herself just who it was the rabbit was crushing on. "…well... alright." She submitted but couldn't resist adding "… to be continued, ok?"

Cream just let out an exasperated sigh and slumped into her seat "'k…"

* * *

**Silent Search**

Orange rocks tumbled from the canyon walls, richoceting of the sides before finally hitting the dirt floor with a thud. A moment later a red echidna followed them, though his descent was much more controlled, using his over-sized fists to punch and carve hand holds into the walls. It was too tight and narrow to use his ability to glide, but his progress was quick regardless, and he soon found himself kicking up the dust on the canyon floor.

The red echidna ran his gloved hand across the canyon walls as he walked, seeking its deepest depths. He wasn't thinking about its rough textures, nor the fading warmth from the sun that had been heating it not five minutes ago, before dipping down and out of sight from this crack in the earth. No, this echidnas hand was tracing across these walls while searching for something.

He was searching for two things, the first was a search through the depths of his soul for potential answers to questions that had risen recently. But he was also physically searching, searching for some sort of tangible evidence to guide his path and find the truth to what happened.

This lone echidna was the last of the echidna's, charged with protecting the Master Emerald from anyone who may use it. Not just a simple matter of protecting it from someone who wished to use it for a nefarious purpose. But to protect it from any who would use it.

Even good intentions can lead to devastating side effects. The nuclear bomb had once started out as a benign project, something meant to enhance humanities knowledge and take the race into a new age of sophisticated technologies and environmentally friendly energies, instead the most destructive and devastating weapon ever conceived by man was unleashed upon the world.

With such an example of nation's inability to restrain themselves in mind, it was up to this echidna to keep the Master Emerald from ever being used.

But here, now, in this moment. He had more pressing matters.

Something evil was coming, he didn't know when, and he didn't know why. But he could feel its presence growing stronger, his link to the Master Emerald giving him a sixth sense for such dangers. But it was more than just a feeling, he had seen evidence of it not two years ago. When; while laying beside the broken fragments of the Master Emerald, gazing up at the night sky, did he spy a single shooting star.

He would have paid this star little heed. He may have even indulged in a wish, had it not been for the colour - Violet.

This echidna knew of one thing that would be this colour and survive a fall back into Mobius atmosphere, and that was a chaos emerald.

He was not charged with their protection. But they were linked in a direct way to the Master Emerald, and as such he had to keep an account of them, who had them, where they were, and what their energies were being used for. And back then, two years ago, he knew that all seven chaos emeralds were in the possession of Sonic the hedgehog.

So to see one of them falling back into Mobius atmosphere… well, it reminded him what people use to think of falling stars back when they thought the world was flat. They thought falling stars were angels falling from heaven, and to some extent this theory seemed apt for what may have happened to Sonic, not that Knuckles would ever let anyone know that he thought of Sonic as Mobius' guardian angel, he'd willingly hand over the Master Emerald to Rouge before telling anyone that.

For Sonic to have relinquished those Chaos Emeralds, and send them back home to Mobius, had to mean he had come across a foe, or foes that were more powerful than him, and the only way he could keep the emeralds out of their hands was to send them back home, and this line of thought inevitably led to the question. What happened to Sonic?

This is why the echidna was now searching down deep inside the canyon by himself. He needed answers to why Sonic had sent the chaos emeralds away, and he needed answers to what may have happened to the blue blur.

The echidna could intuitively sense anything that relied on chaos energy. It was a part of being the guardian of the Master Emerald. All things that harnassed it's energies he could sense. They had to be in a fairly close proximity though. But every now and then, he could feel a pulse sent out for miles around, a pulse of energy completely without direction or will to guide it. It was these pulses that would slowly allow him to track down the Chaos Emeralds, and unravel the truth to what had happened.

This lone echidna, this guardian of the Master Emerald was of course Knuckles. And he had taken it upon himself to solve the riddle to why Sonic had been missing for the past two years.

A twinkle.

Down in this canyon where no direct sunlight could reach its depths he had spotted a spark, so whatever caused this glimmer of light had to produce it itself. Knuckles saw that sparkle immediately and knew instantly what it was. Wedged in the crack of the canyon, hidden from the world; it was just one of many, but a start.

Knuckles raised his pointed fist and punched full force into the canyon's wall, the crack instantly widening for the rippling muscle that powered the fist. The rock parted for his fist unable to withstand his might. Knuckles wrapped his hand around the object he had been seeking and pulled out a violet stone. Perfectly cut, and without so much as a scratch, it was a chaos emerald, one of seven.

The echidna couldn't help but smile at his fortune.

"One down, six more to go…" As he said this, his vision went hazy, and then there was a flash of white light, from the emerald, blinding him.

A moment later he found himself somewhere else entirely.

* * *

**A/N****:** _I had to get one final chapter out before the new year, if you spot any grammar problems let me know so i can correct them, though i point out i'm very much aware that sociavore isn't a word, but who says you can't coin new words? Just think carnivore, or herbivore, then mix with someone who socializes a lot and you'll get the meaning._

_Anyway have a happy new year, and keep to your resolutions!_


	4. Chapter 3 - Shard's Desire

**Chapter 3 - Shard's Desire**

**Shattered images**

Knuckles head pounded, it felt like someone had tried to surgically implant shattered glass into his brain with a mallet. His vision remained unfocused, his legs drained of their strength, it was difficult to stand. But none of this was about to deter the echidna.

He was often referred to as being stubborn or thick-headed. As much as Knuckles despised this trait being attributed too him, it did have an upside. In this case, strength of will.

Knuckles had a bullishness about him, an absolute refusal to lie down and take something for the way it was, no matter how bad a situation was, he would never quit. His friends maintained it was just stubbornness, but it was this he summoned to banish the pain out of his mind. Ignoring the sensations that he was being riddled with. Knuckles forced open his eyes, and curiously, found himself in a place he knew all too well.

Knuckles was on Angel Island; though, it was not the island he knew as home. The trees were dead, the leaves long since rotted and blown away. The grass too was gone, like all other foliage. The dirt was dry and cracked.

As for the shrine that held the Master Emerald, there were chips and cracks in the marble pillars and loose blocks of stone in the steps, some were even missing. Yet in stark contrast to its surroundings, the Master Emerald remained undiminished, permeating light and energy into the world whilst levitating slightly off the floor, rotating lazily on the vertical axis.

The last time Knuckles had seen it, it was fractured, shattered from the final battle with the Metarex; one of many sacrifice's made that day. He had left it like that for the past five years, giving it a chance to rebuild itself, to rest, and in doing so remain useless to all others that would seek its power. But in this place, it was fully rebuilt, and looking as majestic as ever.

This wasn't the first time Knuckles experienced something like this. He recognised the constant haze that crept around the peripherals of his vision, and how each step felt like an overly long gait, like gravity wasn't doing its job properly. Then there was the lag, the crunch from each step on the crusted earth took a second too long to reach his ears. Knuckles knew this had to be one of the visions the Master Emerald would grant.

When he previously experienced such, it was Tikal warning him of the avatar of Chaos; a history lesson doubling as a warning of the dangers should he, Sonic, and the others have failed to stop Chaos eight years ago. He had seen a small part of the Master Emeralds past, as well as that of his ancestors.

Knuckles wasted no time in making his way over to the Master Emerald. He climbed the shrines steps effortlessly and checked the Emeralds many edges, looking for imperfections or cracks, but there were none.

He felt uneasy. Usually by now, Tikal would have said something, someone would have appeared, a memory would have triggered or another segment of the Master Emeralds history would have shown itself.

Someone or something would give him a hint as to what was going on and why he was here, but there was nothing, and this made him restless.

Puzzles and patience was not his strong suit. Clearly something was required of him, for some sort of meaning to be obtained from this place. But he wasn't sure what.

It was then he remembered the violet Chaos Emerald in his hand. He looked over at the pillar to which it was supposed to reside, though rarely made its home, and noted it was very faintly glowing the same colour as the Emerald.

"Worth a shot." he thought out loud to himself.

He had to climb the pillar to reach the Emeralds perch, but for Knuckles; in the shape he was in; it wasn't any effort whatsoever. Once placed, the Chaos Emerald began to glow and hum in an almost serene fashion.

Satisfied this was the right course of action, Knuckles jumped down from the pillar, and walked back up to the Master Emerald. It was then he saw something, both fascinating and perplexing.

This was no vision of Tikal, or his ancestors for it was not them who appeared before him. But rather, this was a vision of Sonic.

The blue hedgehog had his arms spread out before him, as if ready to embrace someone in a hug. His face angled upwards looking towards the sky. He stood before the Master Emerald; it spun violently, cracks covered its surface and a great white light was burning from its core, seeping out the cracks, forcing them open and allowing yet more light to escape from its depths. Knuckles could feel an intense heat radiating from it, giving him the sensation of being in a furnace.

The light intensified, the emeralds spinning grew unstable, the cracks spread, weaving through one another, creating patterns like webbing, until it covered the whole of its surface and through to its core. Then it exploded.

Knuckles didn't see what happened to Sonic, he was too busy shielding himself on instinct from the ejecting pieces of Emerald being shot out in all directions like bullets.

One flew directly at the echidna, and; just as it should have hit; the vision was gone.

* * *

Knuckles woke laying on the canyons dusty floor where he had found the stone, it was still in hand faintly glowing on and off. It lacked power, hidden from the light of day, and the hearts of people, it had been unable to gather much in the way of energy.

The echidna marvelled at it regardless as he replayed this vision in his head. It made little sense. He had never known the Master Emerald to give visions of the future. He had only ever known it to give visions of the past. Yet, not at any time in the Emeralds history had Sonic ever destroyed it, the Guardian would have been the first to know. Sonic would have had to come through him first to destroy the emerald. So he didn't believe that to be the case either.

Confused, and more than a little worried at the potential harm that might come to the Master Emerald, Knuckles decided on one thing. If he wanted to know what the Master Emerald was trying to tell him, he would have to gather the other six chaos emeralds.p

With that thought, Knuckles ascended out of the canyon, and back into the light.

* * *

**What's in a name?**

Tails looked at the envelope in his hands with disdain. He had neglected his post for the past week and now found this envelope embroidered with the seal of the Guardian of United Nations, better known as G.U.N.

The group had long been after him, wanting to welcome him into their fold. They had tried countless times to get the fox to sign a contract, with promises of huge salaries ranging into seven digits and unlimited resources. They wanted him to head all their research and development projects. They knew his ability rivalled that of Eggman, so they kept harassing him, trying to sweeten deals with increasingly eccentric offers so that they might have access to his mind and ideas, hoping his creations would become their property.

He knew G.U.N was a secretive organisation, one that was very active in finding trouble and dealing with it. Their purpose: to keep the world safe at any cost. They were peacekeepers and protectors of Mobius, with near unlimited budget and access to the peak of military technology. But in the end that's all they would ask him to build; guns, bombs and more guns. They wanted him to create ways of keeping their task force ahead of the game, and Tails was not keen on that.

Humans were better off left alone, they had a way of finding an unnatural balance through stalemates of military arms, always escalating, always trying to press an advantage. This was not something Tails planned on upsetting; it was a dangerous scale to suddenly throw off kilter with his involvement.

Problem was he launched the Blue Typhoon six years ago and stunned all arms manufacturers the world over with what was simply put, a sudden and overwhelmingly large leap in technology, with the most powerful warship ever seen.

The world had scraped for every drop of information they could get about the space faring juggernaut, analysed every photo, tried to discern how the engines worked, how it seemingly defied all laws of physics, and watched the videos of its weapon systems being used to bust through the armour of the Metarex, when it had stolen Mobius planet egg, right before using its jump drive to tear a hole in space and effectively travel faster than the speed of light.

At the age of eleven Tails had accidentally thrust himself into the spotlight of every government the world over. When the Sonic team returned a year later the young fox suddenly found himself being hounded for his genius, being queried how the engines, shields and weapon systems worked. He wasn't allowed a moments rest despite his need to mourn for the loss of Cosmo.

He had never expected to garner so much attention for his creation, which in hindsight was extremely naive. And when he let slip it took him only six months to build, suddenly all governments had to have him. There was a political tug of war over the boy genius and Tails had refused them all at every turn.

That decision wasn't without its backlash either.

There were questions raised about whether a 'boy' could be trusted with the most sophisticated technology the world had ever seen and a weapon that no other had an equal too.

They would have tried to take it away from him too had G.U.N not intervened, reminding everyone of how the fox had been by Sonic's side through every world ending scenario that had ever been levied at the planet; and like the blue blur; he had put his life on the line to protect all of Möbius. So they offered to take responsibility for the fox, and maintain a close eye on him.

The worlds governments backed off after that, G.U.N the representative of all nations joint forces, was a neutral party. At their behest the world left Miles Prower alone, much to his relief. This was his reason for so readily hiding himself away from public eyes.

There was no doubting G.U.N helped him as a way of getting into his good graces, to show they were trustworthy, but they had done so for naught. As far as Tails was concerned he needed to know the individual handling any of his weapons, anyone else couldn't be trusted; the price the world pays for the trauma it inflicted upon him in his youth.

What he offered to them as thanks was software and electronic aids. Nothing meant to kill people, just inventions that could help improve upon the imperfections of life, devices meant to compensate for, reaction times, sight, and other such aids that could have applications in the world rather than just in battle.

He fingered the edges of the envelope, he knew it was going to be another request for a meeting, for an interview, a chance to parlay and offer a new set of enticing terms that Tails would inevitably say no to. Yet he still found himself tearing it open, and reading the contents. Often, one of the problems with a huge intellect is, you're curious about everything.

The first thing he noticed was that it was an elegant card not a letter, the second that it was an invitation, not from G.U.N, though likely some subsidiary of the group. The invitation was to a formal gathering of sorts, a place where the rich and the powerful; as well as the smart and the well connected, got together to exchange cards and talk business. A chance to meet people drink wine and pander to egos. Everything the fox hated basically.

Without a second thought Tails screwed up the invitation and threw it in the bin. He had better things to be doing with his life than wasting it on people more interested in personal or political gain, than in aiding others.

With that waste of paper dealt with, his fingers felt itchy. He craved the feeling of having a spanner in hand and the grease of motor-oil under his claws.

Tails made his way over to the Tornado; removed his gloves, so they wouldn't stain, and began a quick tune-up of its engine. This was just a quick check, clean and shake down test of its systems to make sure the faithful old bi-plane was still up to the job of flying.

Its usefulness as far as being a plane primed for battle had evaporated a long time ago. Eggman's machines kept becoming faster, stronger, and more nefarious. Tails had to build the X-Tornado to keep up with those inventions.

This little bi-plane could take quite a few hits, and dish out some punishment, but it was not at the peak of technology. It couldn't go faster than the speed of sound, because unless it was in its X mode, it had no jet, and it couldn't pull a one eighty degree turn in under three seconds; crucial for avoiding lock on missiles, and pinpoint laser fire. When it came down to a dogfight, the Tornado required some creative thinking to come out on top.

But the little plane did have one aspect to it that all the technology in the world couldn't replace: Nostalgia.

This little plane was a huge part of Tails life, it represented not only his growth as a person but his history, the roots from which he came. In recent years Tails had become a very sentimental and reflective creature and this plane was a treasure trove of memories.

He held on to these old treasures, and recollected his past, the good times and the bad. Always analysing, always wondering, 'what if?'

This bi-plane would forever mean the world to the fox. It represented: trust, freedom, hope and an unbreakable bond.

He pressed the side of his head to the planes frame, scanning its body for dents and loose rivets. He wanted to keep the plane as aerodynamically sound as possible, without tarnishing its classic look.

His hands worked their way down the plane with a stroke normally reserved for the most loved of pets. He reached the tail and gazed at the twin tailed symbol which was emblazoned upon everything he made.

A glimmer of a smile traced across his lips.

* * *

"I'm sorry about what happened back there."

Miles whimpered, refusing to look at the hedgehog, his eyes remained fixed on the floor. His head turned to the left, and a small trickle of tears wet his whiskers as he strained to hold back the flood of pained emotions.

Sonic was crouched down in front of the kit, wrapping a bandage around the fox's ankle. It was puffy, swollen up twice the size than Miles other ankle, the fox's forehead also had a bandage wrapped around it.

"Ah!" The fox moaned in pain as the hedgehog touched a particularly sensitive spot. He was trying as much as he could to be gentle, but he wasn't well versed in even the most simplest of first aid procedures. He was only ten after all, and the crying fox before him was three and just under half his size.

They were by a small river bank, on one side there were rolling meadows filled with flowers, birds, sunshine and a red bi-plane, parked beside the only tree in all the meadow.

On the side which they sat, was a forest, the gnarly trees and comparative darkness that reeked of foreboding were less than inviting, but Sonic had found a log to put the young fox cub down while he tried to treat what was a twisted ankle.

"Honestly, if I had known they'd treat you like that I wouldn't have dragged you in there. I would have gone by myself." He was trying to sound reassuring and sympathetic, but the fox always assumed the worst about people, they had ingrained it into him with the same resolve one would take to teaching their dog to doing their business outside.

"Den you go and no come back." The kid had a slight lisp in his speech, between his youthfulness and the lack of anyone raising him for the past six months, Sonic frankly found it stunning he could speak at all.

The fox and hedgehog had only known one another for the best part of a day, long enough to learn names, even find some common ground, but not enough to have formed trust, which for Miles, was something people had misused before. Sonic's short time with Miles had led him to understand that the kid was entitled to his misgivings about people, still, the hedgehog didn't like people to judge him on anything other than his own actions.

"I'm not gonna leave you until I find someone who can take care of you kid. There's gotta be someone who'll take a liking to a twin tailed fox cub." Sonic tied the final part of the bandage into a knot, and sat back on the grass.

Miles on the other hand managed to wipe the tears from his eyes long enough to stick his tongue out at Sonic.

"Come on don't be like that big guy, I'm trying to help ya!"

The fox let out an agitated, 'hmph!' And turned his back on the hedgehog, looking back into the forest which; despite its gloomy appearance; had become increasingly welcoming to Miles.

Sonic's posture slumped. From what Miles had told him, he had already lived in an orphanage and been treated horribly while there, so the only thing Sonic could think to do was take the fox to another city, to try and find a place that was more welcoming of those with abnormalities, or at least that was the plan. Achieving it was looking difficult, judging by Westside's reception of the twin-tailed cub.

"What are ya mad at me for anyway? I'm being nice, I gave you food, water, bandaged your foot, I'm carrying you on my back and I'm trying to help, so you need to tell me, what's going on foxy?"

The only thing Sonic received for his trouble was a glare. He let out a discontented sigh, annoyed at the fox for not opening up, and annoyed at himself for not being able to get him to open up.

"Come on Miles, I said I'm sorry already, what else do I need to do?"

"Don't call me dat." Was the small fox's reply.

Sonic had to stifle an amused laugh. "What your name? I need to call ya something buddy."

"Not your buddy." It was petulant and childish, but the fox was using it as a mask to hide his misery.

Sonic ignored it. "Course you are! You're my lil buddy, and I need to call you something, so why can't I use your name?"

"Don't like it."

"Why?"

Miles shrugged, making Sonic roll his eyes. The hedgehog picked himself up from natures carpet and sat down next to the fox on the log, trying to get the fox to look at him.

"Come on, something's bothering you, so spill, what's the worst that could happen?"

The fox sniffed and rubbed the last few tears from his eyes. A nearby stone that had the unfortunate happenstance of being too close to Miles good foot, had a brief inkling of how the fox felt as it was sent careening off into the forest. "Dey make fun o' me for it."

His voice was timid, quiet and filled with sadness, Sonic had barely heard him, but the answer confused him. "What's funny 'bout a name like Miles?"

Miles didn't answer, he continued to sit there dejectedly.

"Alright, you don't want to be called Miles, so how 'bout I give ya a nickname?"

Sonic watched as he saw the ears on Miles head flicker as he processed the question, there was a pause in his sniffling before he eventually turned and looked at Sonic with hopeful eyes.

"You can do dat?"

Sonic once again had to stifle a laugh, having to remind himself the kid was only three and incredibly naive. "Course I can, my own names a nickname. You didn't think Sonic was my real name did ya?"

"But it suits you real good."

"I know, that's what nicknames are supposed to do. It was given by someone who cared about me and thought it suited me. My parents would have been psychic to call me Sonic."

"But den why you wanna give me a nicks-name?" Once again the fox, was timid, shy and unsure in his question.

"Cos you're my lil buddy!"

The fox looked away suddenly embarrassed, but Sonic could tell he had cheered him up and managed to restore a small amount of faith in him from the way both Miles tails wagged uncontrollably, and that gave Sonic an idea.

"Y'know, I think I got the perfect nickname for ya too."

The fox ears again perked up, and he turned back to the hedgehog filled with anticipation and excitement. "What's it?"

"Tails."

There was a cold silence, a silence best suited for when a joke is told that no one else gets but the teller. The fox made a face, similar to the face a child has when given a plate full of vegetables. His tails stopped wagging, once again drooping behind him. Sonic needed no more an indication to how Miles felt about his new name that that.

"What? It suits you perfectly!"

"Don't like it."

"Why not?

"People make fun o' my tails, and hurts dem."

"Which is why it's a perfect name for you!" Sonic beamed with enthusiasm for the idea, but no amount of enthusiasm that Sonic mustered was about to convince the suddenly glum looking fox that the new name was anything other than a way of teasing him.

"Don't like it, don't like my tails! Call me something else, Pleeeeease!" Miles begged him looking up at the much taller mobian with big teary eyes.

Sonics brow furrowed. "But they make you stand out-"

"Don't wanna stand out!" Miles cried, interrupting Sonic in the process. "Wanna fit in!"

"You really want to fit in with that lot?" Sonic threw a thumb back in the general direction of the city they had previously come from.

"No…" Miles sullenly spoke. "But, but don't wanna be beaten up, and don't wanna be alone." The fox whimpered as the memories his young mind tried to suppress threatened to surface again. The final part to the fox's statement Sonic failed to pick up on.

"They beat you up because of your tails right?"

The fox nodded. "Dey all do."

"Then that is exactly what you should be throwing back in their faces."

That made no sense to Miles, and Sonic could see the perplexed look on the fox's face.

"Look, instead of hating a part of yourself, you should be wearing it with pride. No one can bring you down if you wear it with pride. They'll be all like 'oh you got two tails kid.'" Sonic was doing his best to impersonate a bully trying to make them sound stupid. "And you'd be all like, 'yeah and I got two legs, two arms, two eyes, two ears and one name. Tails. Remember it.'"

"Why's it 'ave to be Tails? I gots two ears! Can it be Ears?"

Sonic let out a laugh at that one. "Sorry kid, nicknames are supposed to be about something that sets you apart from everyone else, and you don't get to choose your own nickname, only friends do that."

"Friend?"

"Yup." Sonic nodded, once again seeing that glimmer of hope return in the fox's big blue eyes and jumping for it at a speed only he could achieve. "Luckily, it's always something they like about you and since i'm your friend, and i'm the one giving you the nickname, i'm gonna name it after something I like about you, something that no one else has, and since I like your tails, that's what it's gonna be."

"But everyone makes fun o' my tails!" The young fox continued to protest.

"Maybe so, but you said you didn't like Miles cos everyone made fun of that too." Sonic saw Miles pout at the thought, but pressed on determined to get the fox to come round to his way of thinking.

"Listen, nicknames are meant to say something awesome about yourself, something that makes you special. You take your nickname and you boast about it to people. You tell people filled with confidence and happiness because it's cool and so are you. Then people won't be able to make fun of you for it, because all they'll be doing is reminding you that what you have is awesome, and someone liked you and accepted you for it. As I said, you should take pride in your tails, and what better way than with a nickname that points them out?" Sonic gave his trademark cocky grin, feeling triumphant with his reasoning. "So, do you like it?"

Miles eyes remained fixed on Sonic as he waited for a reply, the fox was deciphering Sonic's expression, trying to spot the inevitable look of entrapment that was surely leading up to some kind of jest at his expense, but it never came. He mulled it over in his head. And he murmured the name out loud to himself, "Tails..." testing it out.

"Give it a week," Sonic suggested. "See if it fits, I'll even make you a deal."

Sonic saw Miles head cock quizzically to one side. He gestured to the red bi-plane. "I've seen you eyeing up the Tornado." The fox once again looked away embarrassed, having been caught stealing glances. "If you answer to the name Tails for a week, I'll give you a flying lesson."

Miles immediately spun back round to face Sonic, trying desperately to contain some of his excitement and disbelief at the thought, but his words came out in a stammer. "Y-ou m-mean it? You p-promise?"

The blue blur gave a warm smile back, he was fairly certain he had once heard someone say planes were so simple even a three year old could learn to fly them; but even if that wasn't the case, all he planned on doing was teaching the controls, and perhaps letting him do a little steering with the fox sitting on his lap. "Course! So do we have a deal?"

The smile on Miles face couldn't have been wider at that moment, he shook with excitement and looked about ready to explode, the only way he could emote the feeling was to crush himself into Sonic's chest, hugging him tightly screaming- "YESYESYESYESYESheeheehahahah Aha!"

Both the hug and the ensuing giggling fit caught Sonic off guard, and he refrained from returning either. As far as he was concerned he was just trying to help the kid out and give his confidence a boost, at least until he found someone who could look after him. Still, he found the reaction cute and endearing, a smile spread across his face, content with the feeling of a selfless act.

It took a moment for the newly dubbed Tails giggling to die down before realising he may have over stepped his bounds by hugging Sonic, and pulling away. "Sorry." He muttered sheepishly.

"Eh! No problem... Tails." He winked.

The fox smiled up at him then nodded, accepting the name for now. But then his brow furrowed as he thought about their exchange. "Saw-wick, if dat's your nickname... den what's your real one?"

The hedgehogs eyes visibly widened and he immediately looked away. "Ah-ha-ha!" He laughed, embarrassed by the question. "Never... Never you mind 'bout that 'k. Lets-" His eyes darted around for something to do. "Let's get ya back to the plane and rest that ankle."

Tails gave him a curious look so Sonic added. "The sooner we get back the sooner I'll teach ya how the Tornado works." And that was enough for the fox's eyes to light up, distracting him in to forgetting about the question of Sonic's name.

* * *

Fourteen years later and Tails had taken to the name so completely, so proudly that his namesakes was printed across every single creation he had ever made with his own two hands. It was his calling card, and no one could ever make fun of him for it, because the little homeless fox from days gone by had grown up and become a success story like no other.

He was a hero, a protector of Mobius. His creations and ideas were everywhere. From military software through to some of the most basic of household appliances. His mind was helping to shape the world, few could ever make such a claim.

This plane was the first thing he had ever painted the image of his tails on to; at Sonics request; and he would always treasure memories as significant as the ones the Tornado carried under its wings.

* * *

**Ravenous Rabbits**

"I couldn't really!" It was a desperate plea.

"You must, you must!" Vanilla insisted pushing forward another helping of molten chocolate cake into her hands.

"I have so little to do all day, all I care to do is bake and bake!" Vanilla had been like this since Amy and Cream had arrived back at the cottage.

They had taken the train to Mystic ruins, then got a taxi the rest of the way to the little cottage in Green Grove that stood by itself far from civilisation. The closest person was Tails and he lived two miles away. So the roads mostly comprised of dirt paths or shingle.

The view was beautiful though, forests to one side, snow capped mountains to another, and a sparkling lake where many a Chao went to frolic and play.

When they arrived at Vanilla's house, Cream practically tackled her mother with glee. Vanilla was every bit as happy to see her daughter as she was to see her. As thanks for the help of escorting Cream back home Vanilla had offered some food to Amy, she had tried to decline then, but the fantastically polite rabbit had still managed to convince her to come inside and stuff the pink hedgehog full of cakes. She was on her eighth helping of what was turning into a buffet of confectionery.

"I'm trying to watch my figure!" Amy tried but the rabbit was having none of it, eager to stuff the pink hedgehog to the point of bursting. Cream on the other hand was having no problem wolfing down every sweet thing she could get her paws on, scarcely pausing for breath as she went.

"These are great Mum!" The younger beige rabbit exclaimed with delight, and Cheese gave a short happy "CHAO!" Before burying its head into a cake that was the same size helping as everyone else had received and much to Amy's surprise the Chao was somehow managing to eat more than her despite its diminutive stature.

Amy hid a sigh and resigned herself to another delicious, yet torturous, belly bulging bite. She was absolutely stuffed, and it was all from cakes. She was sure diabetes was only another mouthful away. She figured Vanilla must have baked a cake for every day that Cream was away.

"It's great!" She said to Vanilla, and added in her mind. 'As great as the last dozen.'

Vanilla just gave a sweet smile in response, before sipping some tea. Being the host, she had avoided eating all but one cake. Her intent being solely to cater to her guests.

They would usually have the T.V on while they talked but today for whatever reason, they were just picking up static, so Vanilla had shown off every last cake she had made. All delicious, all of them extremely filling.

Amy didn't want to stick around longer than necessary, she wanted to get home, have a bath, and then relax in bed while slowly dozing off to sleep.

"I should really be heading off, it's been a long trip, and I've still got another to make, before it gets too late."

"You could always stay with us the night, it'll be like old times." Vanilla offered.

"Yeah! We can have a sleepover!" Cream giggled at the thought.

"No! Honestly it's too much! I don't want to be a burden!"

"Rubbish!" Vanilla protested. "Amy Rose you've been nothing but a joy when ever we've been honoured with your presence." Vanilla spoke with the upmost sincerity. It made Amy blush, not so much because of what Vanilla was saying, but because she said it so whole-heartedly. She truly meant every word she spoke.

"You could stay here till the ends of time, and your company would always be a pleasure." Vanilla gave her a warm smile. "So stay, indulge yourself with all the cakes you please, and feel free to relax whenever you feel like. With how close you are to our little family, this house should feel like home to you!"

Amy smiled back at her. Truth be told, it did feel like home to her. She absolutely loved these two rabbits. Cream was her best friend, and Vanilla, you'd be hard pressed to find a more genuine and good-natured person than her.

"Besides I was hoping you'd come with me to check on Tails." Cream spoke, finally resisting her urge to indulge her sweet tooth. "I haven't seen him in ages, and I really want to see how he's doing."

"I checked in on him earlier today, Cream, I'm not sure he'd appreciate me checking up on him every day."

Cream pouted giving Amy the sweet look she so often used on others. "Please, please, please!"

Amy shook her head, having known Cream for the best part of a decade, she was one of the few people immune to her adorable pleas. "You're a close friend of his, it's not like he'll be unhappy to see you checking in on him."

"Aw, Amy!" The young rabbit groaned at the hedgehogs refusal. She would have continued trying to persuade Amy had Vanilla not put a hand on her daughters arm.  
"Now Cream, if Amy doesn't want to go then you need to accept that."  
"I know, it's just, what if he doesn't wanna see me?"

Amy raised an eyebrow knowing all to well there was no possibility of Tails turning her away or being remotely annoyed at the rabbits presence."I told you he'd always be happy to see you."

"Yeah... but what if he isn't?" Cream insisted and Amy rolled her eyes at the single minded logic.

Vanilla offered her thoughts. "Honey, as long as we've known Miles he's been a sweet boy, and you've always been close friends. A little time apart never stops true friends from being friends."

Cream sighed. "I know... It's just, I don't wanna go alone." Her attention was then caught by the use of Tails true name. "He doesn't like being called Miles, Mum."

The elder rabbit took a sip of her tea and gave a sad shake of her head. "Shame, it's such a nice name, an anagram of smile, it was always very fitting of his nature if you ask me."

Her attention then shifted back to Amy. "What about you Amy? The offer to stay the night is still open to you, it is getting quite late after all."

Amy looked out the window and saw the sun had already set and what little light was left of the day was rapidly disappearing, it was a long way back to her apartment in Station square, between the darkness of night and the long road home, staying the night in the company of these two rabbits was becoming increasingly attractive to her.

"Erm yeah, thinking about it, it would be really late before I got home, so yeah please."  
Vanilla gave her a warm smile and stood. "Then I'll set up the spare bed in Cream's room."

* * *

It was the middle of the night, and a couple of hours since the rabbits and hedgehog had turned in, but Amy still lay awake. Physically she was tired, but her mind was still very active. Her thoughts constantly turning too the whereabouts of her beloved Sonic.

She reached for her phone and quickly scrolled to the SO-SI icon; pressing it. Tails had said to be patient, that results wouldn't begin pouring in, but she remained ever hopeful.

Unfortunately when the application loaded it showed a big zero in its results column, leaving her frustrated. Amy decided she may as well check out what sort of info was available through this app and proceeded to look at the map icon. It showed the satellites had managed to cover long thin strips of areas across Möbius surface. These paths were the tracings of where the satellites currently were in orbit, they had been active for half the day, so in the grand scheme of things they had made very little progress.

It was then she noticed there was only two of these long strips, yet the device said there was supposed to be three satellites in orbit. Further inspection showed that one of the satellites was offline, or at least she wasn't receiving any data from it.

Her thoughts lingered on that. She knew Tails would give her all the information on what was going on as he could, but she usually had to give him a poke and a push first. A case of don't ask a question, don't get an answer. Her gaze flickered towards the gently snoozing Cream.

"Hey Cream!" Amy tried to whisper to her friend, part of her not wishing to wake her or the sleeping Chao, another part wanting to talk. "You awake?"

There remained silence, clearly the rabbit was still asleep but like all people who ask that question in the middle of the night, Amy wanted an answer, and since the only way someone could answer was if they were awake- "Cream, I gotta talk to you." She gave the rabbit a gentle nudge to rouse her.

"Huh? Amy? What time is it?"

"Shh!" Amy soothed, not wanting to wake the sleeping Chao currently cuddled up to the rabbit. "It's still night, I was just wondering if the offer to come with you and see Tails was still open?"

Cream regarded the pink hedgehog with tired eyes, dying to ask why this couldn't wait till morning. "Course it is."

"Great, then thinking about it I would like to come with you."

The rabbit took a moment to process that, both wanting to ask what changed her mind and why now in the middle of the night, her drowsy mind opted for the latter deeming it the more important. "That's great Amy... But you could have just told me in the morning."

The darkness within the room hid Amy's embarrassed blush. "Yeah, sorry about that, I'll let you go back to sleep now, night."

Cream watched Amy quietly get back into her bed, and within a matter of minutes she could hear gentle snoring coming from the pink hedgehog.

Minutes passed, the only noise coming from the rustling rabbit as she tossed and turned in bed.

"Great now I can't get to sleep." She let out an exasperated sigh before laying her eyes on the infinitely cuddlesome Chao sleeping next to her.

"Cheese." She whispered and gave the Chao a poke. "You awake?"

"Chaaaao..."

* * *

**A/N: **_This chapter was frustrating to write, ended up cutting out two sections replacing them with Knuckles and Tails scenes and then re-writing the vast majority of the final section. There was another Amy/Cream scene but I cut it cos it felt derivative, I thought it was a funny scene, but that was its only reason for existing. I'm happy with the end result, but something about that final scene gnaws at me, can't put my finger on what though._

_Thanks for reading._


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